How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account

Do you know how to deactivate your Facebook account? If you want to be off this social media platform for a while without worrying if people will share your old posts, tag your profile or access it, deactivating your profile is the best solution. 

Once you deactivate your Facebook account, your profile won't be shown to other people, not even to your friends. Nobody will be able to access what you have published previously. But, this doesn't mean your profile will be deleted, you can reactivate it whenever you want. All your posts, including your pictures and videos, won't be deleted from the platform. 

Check out the article to learn more about it:  

How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account From a Browser

The Facebook platform has an intuitive interface, the design was developed to help you easily navigate through the pages, and quickly find the tools you need. That isn't different when it comes to how to deactivate your Facebook account. 

However, Facebook is implementing some changes to how you manage your accounts, and they have created the Accounts Center, which is a space where you can see all the profiles that are attached to your account, including the  Instagram profile. 

This feature isn't available to everyone yet, so you will need to check what suits your situation. If you access the Facebook settings section and the Accounts Center link appears at the bottom of the page, this means you need to make the deactivation process through Facebook Settings.

How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account Through Facebook Settings

1 - Enter your Facebook account;

2 - Click on your profile picture in the top right corner of your screen;

3 - Select "Setting & Privacy", then "Settings";

4 - Click on "Your Facebook Information";

5 - Click on "Deactivate and Deletion";

6 - Choose the option "Deactivate Account", and follow the instructions. 

How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account Through Accounts Center

If you access the Facebook settings section and the Accounts Center link appears at the top of the page, you can use it to deactivate your account. 

1 - Enter your Facebook account;

2 - Click on your profile picture in the top right corner of your screen;

3 - Select "Setting & Privacy", then "Settings";

4 - Click on "Accounts Center";

5 - Click on "Personal Details";

6 - Choose the option "Account Ownership and Control";

7 - Click on "Deactivation", and choose the profile you wish to deactivate;

8 - Select "Deactivate Account", and follow the instructions to finish. 

How to Deactivate Your Facebook Account From a Smartphone

If you use your Facebook from your smartphone, you can deactivate your account using its social media app. What you need to do is: 

1 - Open the Facebook app, and log in to your account;

2 - Click on the menu icon;

3 -  Select "Setting & Privacy", then "Settings";

4 - Choose the option "Personal and account information";

5 - Select "Account ownership and control";

6 - Choose "Deactivation and deletion";

7 - Click on "Deactivate Account" and follow the final instructions.

Will Your Facebook Account Be Deactivated Permanently?

Losing their Facebook account access permanently and having all the posts and conversations lost is a concern for many people when they want to deactivate their accounts. However, you don't need to worry about that. 

When you select the option to deactivate the account and not delete it, all your profile data will be stored. You can activate your profile at any time. During the period of inactivity, your profile isn't available, therefore no one can see it or add you as a friend on Facebook, but as soon as you activate it, everything goes back to normal. 

You can post on your feed, publish stories, share content from other profiles and pages, publish your content from Instagram automatically on Facebook, and much more. Notice that when your profile is deactivated the messages sent through it won't disappear, people who received them can see them at any time. 

How to Delete Your Facebook Account Permanently

If you no longer want to access your Facebook account or make it available for other people to see what you have published, you can delete it permanently. 

How to Delete Your Facebook Account Through Facebook Settings

1 - Enter your Facebook account;

2 - Click on your profile picture in the top right corner of your screen;

3 - Select "Setting & Privacy", then "Settings";

4 - Click on "Your Facebook Information";

5 - Click on "Deactivate and Deletion";

6 - Choose the option "Delete Account", and follow the instructions. 

How to Delete Your Facebook Account Through Accounts Center

1 - Enter your Facebook account;

2 - Click on your profile picture in the top right corner of your screen;

3 - Select "Setting & Privacy", then "Settings";

4 - Click on "Accounts Center";

5 - Click on "Personal Details";

6 - Choose the option "Account Ownership and Control";

7 - Click on "Deactivation or deletion", and choose the profile you wish to delete;

8 - Select "Delete Account", and follow the instructions to finish.

What Happens When You Delete Your Facebook Account

When you choose to delete your Facebook account, it isn't possible to reactivate it. Your profile and everything you published will be deleted, including the photos, videos, and posts. Once the deletion process is completed, you can't recover any of that data or use Facebook Messenger.

If you use your Facebook account to access other apps and services, you won't be able to access them through Facebook login anymore. Change the login option in the apps before deleting your Facebook account. The messages you have sent through Facebook Messenger will not be erased. They will remain available in the inboxes of the people who you sent them to. 

You have 30 days to change your mind about deleting your account, though. Within this period of time, if you decide you want to keep your Facebook account, all you have to do is log in to your account and cancel the deletion process. 

Facebook Account Deactivation or Deletion: Evaluate What Works Best for You

Now that you have learned how to deactivate your Facebook account or delete it before you choose what to do, consider what you need your Facebook account for. For example, if you are a marketing professional, having a Facebook account is very important to manage ad campaigns on this platform and on Instagram, and to be able to manage Facebook pages too. 

If you delete your account, you won't have access to any of those things. It's going to be necessary to create another one. So, if you just need to take a break from social media, the most advisable would be to deactivate your account for a while. 

However, if you choose to delete it permanently, remember to save all the important information before moving on with the deletion process. This way you avoid losing data that is valuable to you.